Badge
Buzzcocks
24th October 1979

This large, at the time, unfashionable badge was someone’s idea of promoting the band’s third album, “A Different Kind of Tension”. The Buzzcock management/marketing team had always been well on the ball with regards to image and promotion, particularly with clever use of badges and stickers, etc., however, at 56mm in diameter, I’m sure this monster would only have appealed to die-hard fans/collectors. It was certainly the only reason I bought it and would never have been seen dead wearing it!
It was available only from the bands own offices and at gigs on the Buzzcocks/Joy Division UK tour of winter 1979. Not a bright idea (though it seemed good at the time!) I got the band to sign this one after the gig at Birmingham Odeon 24/10/79.The felt pen-on-plastic barely survived the journey home, let alone the intervening 28 years!
Unfortunately, this gig was one where Ian Curtis, vocalist with Joy Division was clearly unsteady towards the end of the band’s performance, having to be helped off the stage prematurely. We didn’t know what was going on at the time. Whether he needed medical assistence after this gig, I’ve never been able to ascertain, but the band and crew were certainly no longer around by the time the main act had left the stage.